Abandoned at the Service Station, I Watched His Taillights Fade Chapter 01

Abandoned at the Service Station, I Watched His Taillights Fade Chapter 01

On our graduation trip, the three of us, I became invisible.

In every group photo with my boyfriend, they were wrapped up in each other. I was lucky if my forehead made the frame.

At meals, they ordered dishes that matched their own tastes. No one ever asked what I wanted.

And that night, I simply stopped at a rest stop on I-95 to use the bathroom.

They drove off without me.

I ran after them for a dozen yards, watching the taillights vanish into the dark.

I pulled out my phone and called Ethan again and again.

No answer.

I stood there, staring at the location sharing. The blue dot moved at a steady pace—twenty minutes, thirty, forty. No pause. No U-turn.

Ethan Bennett finally called back at nine, a soft laugh in his voice.

“Sorry. Soph and I were so deep in conversation I didn’t realize you weren’t in the car until we hit the beach.”

Sophie Morgan’s voice chimed in from the background, sickly sweet.

“I told him we should go back for you, but he said it was too far.”

“Enough,” Ethan said, humoring her. “She’ll figure it out. Nat always handles things.”

In that moment, listening to the howl of the ocean wind through the phone, I felt an eerie calm settle over me.

“Don’t bother.”

I hung up and called my dad. “Dad, I’ve decided to study abroad in Australia. I’m not coming back.”

***

The rest stop attendant helped me find a late-night rideshare.

Two hours later, I dragged my suitcase up to The Driftwood Inn, my knees frozen and numb from the cold.

The innkeeper leaned out from the front desk.

“You three booked late. All we have left are two ocean-view king rooms and an attic room on the top floor—no windows. How do you want to split them?”

Hearing this, Ethan turned from his seat on the wicker chair out on the deck.

Two cups of ginger tea with honey sat on the table in front of him. “You made it. Why didn’t you say something?”

He walked over and took my suitcase without asking.

“I’ve been waiting forever.”

I said nothing. My knees, chilled through by the night wind, still throbbed.

Sophie scrambled to her feet and hurried over with one of the cups. “Nat, drink this and warm up. I told Ethan we should go back, but he said you can’t make a U-turn on the highway, that it was way too far.”

Her face was the picture of guilt as she tried to press the cup into my hands. “It’s fine.”

I kept both hands buried in the pockets of my coat.

Ethan came up beside me, slung an arm over my shoulders, and smoothly took the cup from Sophie’s hands and set it back down.

“Alright, you’re here now. Stop standing in the cold.”

He turned to the innkeeper. “We’ll take both ocean-view rooms, and open the attic too.”

Sophie tugged at Ethan’s sleeve. “Why don’t I take the attic? Nat’s been stuck in a car forever—she must be exhausted.”

“No.”

Ethan cut her off on my behalf. “Nat doesn’t mind stuff like that.”

He glanced at me.

“The attic is quiet. You hate noise, right?”

“Sophie’s back has been bothering her. The mattress in the ocean-view room is softer.”

I stared at the self-assured look in his eyes.

Freshman year, he used to ruffle my hair with that exact same certainty and say, With me here, you never have to worry about a thing.

Now he was absolutely convinced I would say it was okay.

“Fine.”

My voice was flat.

He smiled and ruffled my hair again. “Go freshen up. I’ll take you out for seafood later.”

The attic was tiny, the air thick with a musty smell. I opened my suitcase to dig out a thick sweater. The second I pulled the zipper, the stench of seafood hit me.

My favorite trench coat was smeared with huge, dark stains.

Earlier, Ethan had been helping Sophie carry her sushi takeout.

To free up his hands, he’d shoved the insulated bag straight into my suitcase.

The broth had leaked everywhere. I stared at the stains for a long time. I didn’t take the coat to the bathroom to scrub it.

I just rolled it up, hanger and all, and dropped it straight into the trash.

Half an hour later, I went downstairs to the dining room.

The table was loaded with food.

Ethan was holding out a glass of juice to Sophie across the table.

“This one’s room temp. Your stomach’s too sensitive for the cold stuff.”

Sophie took the glass with a brilliant smile. “Thanks.”

She spotted me and immediately waved.

“Nat, come sit! Ethan ordered a ton of food.”

I pulled out a chair and sat down.

A few other seniors from our major were at the table too, all buzzing about post-graduation plans.

Jake Morrison raised his glass toward Sophie.

“Sophie totally killed it.”

“That university entrepreneurship grant won first prize—straight-up got noticed by a venture capital firm downtown.”

When you’re raking it in, don’t forget about the rest of us.”

Sophie’s cheeks flushed as she ducked her head in embarrassment.

“Please, I wouldn’t have pulled it off without Ethan.”

Ethan leaned back in his chair, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Sophie’s sharp. She picks things up like that.”

“And that core data model? Absolutely nailed it—the advisor wouldn’t shut up about it.”

My fork froze halfway to my plate.

That core data model? I pulled three all-nighters to build it.

Sophie had hit a complete wall with the modeling and was sobbing in frustration.

Ethan called me in the middle of the night. Nat, help her out. This determines whether she gets into that planning department.

I dug through research, ran the numbers, barely slept for three days straight. The day I handed it in, all Ethan said was Thanks for the hard work.

And now, at this dinner table, it had become proof of their flawless chemistry. From start to finish, no one mentioned my name.

I stared down at my plate, pushing the food around.

Ethan seemed to notice I hadn’t said a word.

He placed a piece of deboned fish onto my plate.

“What’s with the blank stare?”

His tone was gentle.

“You’ve been killing yourself over that thesis. Come on, eat.”

The guys around the table instantly started razzing him.

“Damn, Ethan, look at you being all boyfriend-of-the-year.”

“Nat is so lucky.”

I stared at the fish on my plate.

He always did this. Hurt me first, then toss me some scrap of affection as a reward.

“Thanks.”

I picked up the fish and put it in my mouth, completely calm.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. A text from my dad.

[Nat, have you decided? Are you really going to that design school in Australia?]

I set my fork down and typed a reply with one thumb.

[Yeah. The sooner, the better.]

I hit send and flipped my phone facedown on the table.